Westholme NL Xmas 2010.indd - Westholme School

NEWSLETTER
WINTER 2010

Poppies & Daisies
At Nursery our Poppies and Daisies enjoy a wealth of
learning opportunities through planned arts and crafts,
physical apparatus, problem solving and first hand
experiences outdoors.
Now, thanks to the generosity of Westholme Association,
the children now have access to an impressive ICT
whiteboard which allows them to develop an additional
wide range of skills including co-ordination and
cognitive development to name a few. The children are
naturals in using the equipment and are always nearby
and ready to help the staff when they struggle!!
2 WESTHOLME NURSERY
Children in Need..
The children went spotty mad this year
to help support and raise funds for Children in
Need. They made all things spotty including hats,
sashes, biscuits, pictures and even painted spots
on their faces. They enjoyed our Pudsey treasure
hunt and baked cakes to sell to parents.
In total, alongside Infant School, we raised a grand total of
£240. Thank you to all the parents and carers who
supported us throughout the day.
Ballet
We have been working hard to learn
some basic steps and poses. We love to
do ballet with Miss Sumner because it is
one of the most beautiful and graceful
of all dance styles. We look great in our
tights and leotards and some of us even
have tutus!
The Thwaites
Theatre
Pre school had a wonderful time
when they visited the Thwaites
Theatre in Blackburn. We all enjoyed
the production of ‘Guess How
Much I Love You’ and we joined in
by jumping, singing and dancing
with the rest of the audience! It
introduced our new topic of Our
Favourite Stories. We have enjoyed
reading Guess How Much I Love
You, Little Red Riding Hood and
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
amongst other favourites. We have
taken part in creating puppet
shows, leading role play, baking
cookies and treasure hunts.

Judges’ Lodgings
Year 1 had a great time visiting Lancaster’s oldest
town house which is home to the Museum of
Childhood. We explored toys and games from
the 18th century to the present. We even met
Father Christmas, who explained what type of
toys he used to bring to Victorian children. The
cook then allowed us to help her to make a
Christmas pudding, then the Governess took us
downstairs to play a Victorian circle game. We
finished by joining together to sing carols around
the Christmas tree and we were waved off by
Father Christmas. It was a magical visit, especially
with the snow falling outdoors.
The Jewish Museum
Year 2 visited the Jewish museum in Manchester.
The building used to be a synagogue and the
children were very interested in exploring it.
Miriam, our guide, told us all about the Torah
scrolls and the Jewish way of life. Then we
went around the museum with our clipboards
looking for objects that we recognised, such as
the Yad, the Ark and the Kippah. Later, Miriam
set up a Shabbat table and four children acted
out the special meal that Jewish families eat
together every Friday evening. We all had a very
informative day!
Judo
In the Little Dragons Judo club, we have
been taking our first steps in the 150 year
old Olympic sport of Judo. Sensei teaches
us traditional values like respect, discipline
and good manners, which are very important
in Judo, alongside learning new moves like
Yoko Shiho Gatame, O Goshi and Tai Otoshi.
The Harris Museum
Reception went to look at the art
gallery. We studied portraits as part of
our art topic. We were very excited,
as for some of us, it was our first trip
on a coach! When we arrived we
were shown lots of different portraits.
Then we got to model the poses! We
studied different artefacts and talked
about what we saw in the pictures. We
even got to collage our own portraits.
We had a lovely time and when we
arrived back at school, we created
artists’ studios in our classrooms.
Traditional Games
We have focused on learning how to play turntaking
games like dominoes, snakes and ladders
and Incy Wincey Spider with Mrs Milnes, who
always makes sure that we follow the rules! Mrs
Waddicor has helped us to play strategy games
like draughts, Connect 4 and noughts and
crosses. She likes us to think ahead in order to
stop the opposition winning!
Football
Art and Craft Club
We have made everything from bonfire collages
to painted mask. Miss Carr and Mrs Hearle have
helped us to practise a number of different
skills such as printing, weaving, painting and
collaging. The best part has been getting ready
for Christmas, making baubles and decorations!
Eco Club
We have been learning about paper, where it
comes from and why it is important to recycle
it. Miss Byrom has helped us to think about
how much paper we use in school, so we are
trying to REDUCE the paper we use, REUSE the
paper as scrap and make sure we all have paper
bins to RECYCLE used paper. The 3 R’s!
Speech Club
We have been learning how to recite poetry
with Mrs Rogers. Some of us have performed
in the Colne Festival, where we did really well.
Katie Backhouse came 3rd, Umar Mohammad
2nd and Hasan Majid 1st. Some of us will
perform in the Burnley Festival in the New Year.
We have been learning to develop our skills and
stamina in football with Mrs Sutcliffe and Mrs Barrett.
We are getting really good at dribbling, passing,
shooting and controlling the ball. Our inter Billinge
House mini football matches have been
enjoyed by all and we hope to play against
local schools in the New Year.
Blackburn Rovers had better watch out!
WESTHOLME INFANT SCHOOL
3

DESIGN &
TECHNOLOGY
The Year 6 boys enjoyed their
design & technology project
of designing shelters and
making prototypes from paper.
The design & technology project
for Year 5 was to make and decorate
biscuits. The boys certainly enjoyed the
making and decorating part of the challenge.
They also enjoyed eating them too!
OUT & ABOUT
Year 6 boys, despite the torrential rain, enjoyed a mapping
and navigational outing over Billinge Fell. They journeyed
from the Boys’ Junior School over to Wilmar Lodge.
The Roman expeRience
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS
Westholme Boys took part in the annual AJIS Cross Country
Championships at Rossall School. A special mention must go
to Jacob Harrison who came 7th in this cross country event.
4 WESTHOLME BOYS’ JUNIOR SCHOOL
The boys took great delight when
Mr Harrison got ‘decapitated’ in Chester!
Quarry Bank Mill
A fabulous day was spent at
Quarry Bank Mill where boys
learned about life in Victorian
times. They discovered what the
daily life of an apprentice was like
and studied the mechanisation
of the cotton industry.
Indoor Sportshall Athletics
A record number of boys represented
the school at the Indoor Sportshall
Athletics event held at Stanley Park,
Blackpool, on Sunday 21 November.
All of the 19 competitors gained
valuable experience and had a
wonderful day!
Open Day
On Open Day we welcomed visitors to
the school. As well as looking around
the school and getting a feel for our
warm, friendly community, new for this
year, pupils past, present and future,
were able to try their hand at a little
woodwork in building a train. Many
fathers also enjoyed the opportunity
too! Our thanks must go to Mr Berry
for his enthusiasm and enabling us to
undertake this challenge.
The boys competed in the swimming gala held
at Merchant Taylors’ School. Congratulations
to Peter Johnstone who made the final in the
individual 50m back stroke.
Boys have also enjoyed success on the football
field. The Under 11A football team pose in their
new team kit!

Y6 Quarry Bank Mill
Year 6 girls spent a fun-packed day at Quarry Bank Mill. They
gained a fascinating insight into life as an apprentice both
in the mill and at the Apprentice House, and enjoyed the
opportunity to spin and weave by
hand in a textiles workshop.
Y5 Man from
Story Mountain
“The Yanomami know that
there are four worlds…” began
the Man from Story Mountain,
Adrian Beckingham, when he
visited Year 5 in October. He
mesmerised the girls with his
versions of magical creation
stories from the Yanomami
Tribe in the Amazon rainforest.
He also brought an exhibition
of photographs depicting
the Yanomami way of life. His
visit was kindly paid for by the
Westholme Association.
Y4 Witton Park
As part of their science work on plants and growth, the Year 4
girls visited Witton Park to study the trees, autumn fruits and
seeds. They also explored the various ways in which seeds
are dispersed.
Y5 Chester Zoo
At Chester Zoo Year 5 came face to face
with many of the amazing rainforest
creatures they had been researching
in the science and geography
lessons. The girls also participated in
workshops investigating habitats and
rainforest food chains.
Y6 Ewood Park
As part of the science curriculum,
Year 6 girls spent an active day
at Ewood Park investigating the
effects of exercise on the heart.
In addition to their work in
the Education Centre, the girls
enjoyed some football coaching
and an energetic session in a
dance studio.
SPORTS DESK
We have had an excellent start to the year
in cross country, winning the AJIS Year 6
competition at Rossall. The standard was
very high and we had an amazingly low score
of 35 from our top five runners, possibly a
championship record. Congratulations to all
involved, and particularly to Alexa McTiffin
who was the race winner. The Year 6 team
also competed in the Blackburn Primary
Schools’ competition and are currently in
first place, with two more races to come next
term.
We are again competing in the
Lancashire Indoor Sportshall
League, against athletics clubs
from all over Lancashire, and
after the first competition
we are lying in 2nd place.
Particular congratulations
to Olivia Pickford, Baylie
Thompson and Eloise Littlefair
who all managed first places,
an excellent achievement with
over 100 other girls competing.
The netball players
have been training hard
and the Year 6 team
has made it through
to the netball league
finals. We have also
had several hockey
and swimming fixtures
this term and the girls
are developing their
competitive skills nicely.
Our swimmers competed
in the AJIS swimming
competition and everyone
swam very well, with many
girls reaching the finals.
Baylie Thompson and Olivia
Pickford won their events,
receiving gold medals, and
Clara Slater and Ella Williams
got bronze medals for their
performances. Very well
done!
WESTHOLME GIRLS’ JUNIOR SCHOOL
5

Very early in the morning on Friday 15th Junior Schools’ French Adveture
October, 42 boys
and girls left Beardwood Bank bound for France.
The teachers who came with us were Mrs Daley, Mr
Harrison, Mrs Hayton, Mrs Kerry and Madame Thorpe.
For a lot of us, it was our first time away from home for
so long, so we were a bit nervous but we had a fantastic
time! We would like to tell you about our best memories
and all the new experiences we had.
‘My favourite part was when we went to the aquarium and saw all
the fish, jelly fish, the giant shark’s mouth and the real sharks. We saw
cute little penguins who all had different names’.
‘I was really excited about eating a snail because it was my first try.
It was really good and we all had lemonade after trying the snails.’
‘These are the things I tried for the first time on the
French trip: eating a mussel, eating a snail and lifting
battle weapons. C’était très agréable – merci beaucoup!
‘We had an awesome
disco when everyone
wore their favourite
clothes and danced to
the music. It was funny
when the teachers were
dancing but I must say
they did very well!’
6 WESTHOLME JUNIOR SCHOOLS
‘I thought that the bakery croissants and
chocolate bread were very tasty. I loved
having a go at making them, it was great fun
and eating them was even better!’
‘On the way back from France we
went shopping in the hypermarket
and got all sorts of things; sweets,
games, food and even children’s
pretend champagne!’
‘We could see sharks, seals and penguins
so close up. At one point I turned around
and there was a seal right in my face!
I was able to stroke a stingray and its
skin was very bumpy!’
‘I enjoyed going into the woods on the night hike and singing!’
‘It was the best trip I have ever been on!’
‘The French trip was amazing! ‘
‘When we went to Azincourt I enjoyed picking up
the weapons and dressing up in suits of armour’
‘Being away from Mum and Dad for 4 days
was a first, but I was too busy to miss them!’
‘I decided snails
are better left
in the garden!’
‘At the snail farm there were thousands of snails
and you could hold one if you wanted. Mine was
massive and came out of its shell quite quickly.’
‘It was a long, tiring journey to the Eurotunnel but
we were all excited to go through it on the train. The
length of time in the tunnel was very short as the train
was travelling at such high speed!’
‘We had to wake up very early in the morning. It was my first long coach journey ever! It
was also the first time I would be on holiday by myself – YIPPEE! No brother or sister! My
favourite bit of the whole trip was the disco. At the disco all the girls were dancing but
most of the boys were chilling out with their fizzy drinks!’

Y5 Bug Lady
Year 5 were delighted to welcome Sue, the ‘bug
lady’, and her entourage of giant creepy crawlies.
Phobias were overcome as pupils dared to touch
tarantulas and scorpions. The visit brought the
‘minibeast’ topic to life – literally!
Christmas
The arrival of the Christmas trees marked
the start of our festivities and these were
enthusiastically decorated by the children.
We also enjoyed a trip to The Duke’s Theatre,
Lancaster to see a wonderful performance of
‘The Snow Queen’. At the time of going to
print we are preparing for our Carol Service,
to be held in Blackburn Cathedral, which will
be preceded by the Boys’ School Lunchtime
Carols. We are also looking forward to our
more informal Christmas Assembly in the
Westholme Theatre and of course our parties
and Christmas lunch!
Y4 Trip
to Chester
Year 4 pupils stepped aboard a
Roman Galley and sailed back
in time to visit the streets of
Roman Chester. They toured
the city accompanied by a
Roman Centurion and spent
time in the Dewa Museum,
getting ‘hands on’ experience
with Roman artefacts.
Harvest
Out Harvest Festival service took place in St Silas’ Church
and was led by the Year 3 and Year 4 pupils. They presented
a lovely service to the rest of the school and the many parents
that were able to join us. Money collected at the end of the service
was donated to the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal and the Salvation Army and
Nightsafe were delighted to receive the donated harvest goods.
The theme for this year was ‘wear
your spots and let’s raise lots’
and the Junior pupils certainly
embraced this. They wore spotty
accessories with their uniform,
brought teddies to school and
held a cake sale. Staff also donated
prizes for a raffle, which was very
well supported. In total almost £600
was raised for this worthy cause.
Many thanks to everyone for their
enthusiasm and generosity.
Children in Need
WESTHOLME JUNIOR SCHOOLS
7

Prizegiving
Westholme’s Prizegiving Ceremony took place at
King George’s Hall, Blackburn in October.
This is a highlight in the School’s calendar where
we celebrate all that Westholme pupils have
achieved. The music, as always, was wonderful,
with the school orchestra performing Superstar
Selections by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the choir
closing the ceremony in fine style with their Bee
Gees Bonanza!
The prize presenter was Old Westholmian
Vanessa Jolly who works as an Editor at The Times.
Vanessa, who left Westholme in 1998, became one
of Fleet Street’s youngest section editors in 2008.
ON SONG
The Westholme Senior choir had a successful and enjoyable summer
tour of Northern Spain. The choir gave a stunning concert in Iglesia
El Carmen, Vitoria performing Vivaldi’s Gloria and Four Seasons. They
also gave an outdoor concert in Bakio where Hannah Buckley and
Emily Aspinall performed solos to the Michael Jackson Medley.
WISH YOU WERE HERE . . .
In her assembly at the end of the Summer term, Miss Edgar challenged
both staff and students to make the most of their time on holiday and
to do as many exciting things as possible. Students and staff were
encouraged to send her a postcard telling of their adventures.
When Miss Edgar returned from Borneo her letter tray was full of
postcards! Westholme staff and pupils have been very busy over
the summer. Mrs Lewis saw a wild black bear whilst exploring the
National Parks of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia! Mrs Croston
tried to learn Polish whilst attending Mr Marsden’s wedding.
Mr Oracz managed to squeeze in three trips – to Rome, Las Vegas
and Marbella!
Pupils also had a very busy summer – Poppy Sparrow was in London
performing with the National Youth Theatre, Nikitha Aithal worked for the Red Cross in Poitiers and
Baylee-Jay Maddison-Mahoney bumped into the Dutch world cup football squad and the Canadian
Olympic synchronized swimming team in Aruba, in the Dutch West Indies!
However there was a winner – Lucy Baxter in 8W. Lucy sent Miss Edgar a postcard from the French Alps.
During her time in Europe she managed to visit six European countries in just five days!
WESTHOLMERS WADE IN WADDECAR
The Year 8 Geographers thoroughly enjoyed their baptism into the world of river studies. The worked superbly in their teams to gather data on the width,
depth and speed of the River Brock. They learnt how to take kick samples of the freshwater invertebrates to analyse the water quality and were pleased to
report a superb variety of mayfly and stonefly nymphs, freshwater shrimps and caddis larvae. Despite the dry weather conditions the Year 8s still managed
to find enough water to go over the top of their colourful wellies and had a wonderful learning experience in the great outdoors!
8 WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

Talented Textiles
Year 8 Textiles students have been working
hard to design and produce cushions and
bags. It was very difficult selecting just one
winner per form, but a decision was reached
eventually.
Congratulations to Sophie Hodson,
Melissa Bamber, Helen Cunane and Eve Jones. Concert for
Cambodia
On Wednesday 29th September,
Westholme welcomed back
former pupil Katy Molloy, who
left Westholme in 2001.
INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE
Over the summer holidays, Rashmi
Makaram of 9W graduated in Indian
Classical Dance. In order to do so she had
prepared for five or six years twice a week
and then three times a week for the last 18
months.
The Graduation itself involved a 2 hour
solo performance at the Chowdiah
Memorial Hall in Bangalore where Rashmi
performed eight set pieces accompanied
by a live orchestra and soloist. She did this
in front of an auditorium full of people.
Instead of the usual gifts she would have
received for this fantastic achievement,
Rashmi asked that money be donated to
the Orthopaedic Hospital in Bangalore.
She raised well over 60,000 Rupees (£800)
and in grateful thanks was awarded a
plaque by the hospital.
Subsequently Rashmi has won a place
at the Centre for Advanced Training in
Birmingham –
one of only ten
students in the
After climbing the advertising career ladder she came across a book which dramatically
altered the course of her life, Somaly Mam’s ‘The Road of Lost Innocence’. Deeply moved
and unable to forget what she had read, she boldly gave up her London life to go out
to be a volunteer in Cambodia where she has been since February, working for AFESIP
(translated as Aid for Women in Distressing Situations). She spoke passionately to the
girls about how they could help through research, fundraising and communication.
In the evening a concert was held to raise funds for Katy’s human trafficking charity with
the help of her superbly talented friend, Steve Burnett, graduate of the Royal College of
Music. He had spent the day in master classes with some of our girls and inspired them to
play to a captive audience with great energy and focus. The day and the evening were a
great success and raised a fantastic £630 for this vitally important work. Congratulations
and thanks to everyone who took part.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Year 8 Food Technology groups took part
in the Westholme Challenge Cookery
Competition, for which they had to create
a celebration dish for two people costing no
more than £5.00.
All of the girls produced an excellent
standard of work and choosing the winners
was a very difficult task! In the words of
Loyd Grossman, the judges deliberated,
cogitated and digested until the following
girls were announced the winners:
Gillian Ballan (8W)
Katie Goodier (8L)
Felicitie Bulless (8M)
Hannah Dobrashian (8S)
UK. BrFC aNd THE BBC
Twenty lucky Westholme pupils were selected to take
part in the filming of a fifteen minute programme
called Extra Time by the BBC for 21CC. This is the
BBC’s digital classroom which offers multimedia
workshops for schools and community groups.
The girls spent a day at Blackburn Rovers where BBC
technicians showed them how to operate cameras
and sound equipment. The following day was spent
at BBC Salford where the girls learned how to edit.
Their film can be seen on the BBC website:
www.bbc.co.uk/21cc/bigproject/extra_time
WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
9

A LEVEL ELATION
Westholme students have once again fulfilled their potential this
year, gaining excellent A level results with a 100%
pass rate and 68% of all grades being A*/A/B.
The new A* grade really stretched our girls, with the
top 9% gaining them. One outstanding
performance was in Biology where 20% of
all students gained A* grades.
BEST GCSEs - EVER!
Westholme students gained the best GCSE results in the School’s
history! The results are amazing and unprecedented. There was an
overall pass rate of 99%, and 60% of all grades were A*/A.
35% of all Westholme students each gained a minimum of 10A*/A
grades. For the first time a number of students took on additional
Maths which resulted in fourteen pupils gaining 12 A*/A grades. This
was an exceptional achievement. Pass rates in GCSE English and
Mathematics were 100% and 99% respectively.
One Year 7 pupil, Natasha Mols,
gained an A* in GCSE Spanish
and another student from Year
11, Colwen Clauscen gained
an A grade in A level Chinese
along with her 12 GCSEs.
10 WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
SCHOLARSHIPS
We were very proud to have financial support from local businesses,
Artisan Interiors and Emica, in the form of Scholarships and the
Eureka Essay awards.
Alyas Khan, CEO of Emica launched the Eureka Award in the
Summer term and visited to award the winning prizes of £150
each to Rachael Moodie (Seniors) and Malini Dey (Juniors). He
was impressed with the creativity of the ideas all the girls had
presented and said, “These essays have depth of imagination and
ideas for regeneration that are amongst the best the panel have
seen. Congratulations.” He was also pleased to award the Eureka
Scholarship for £500 to Emma Watts for the highest performance
in Geography based on external GCSE results. Mr Khan commented
that all the girls who had been awarded prizes from his company
would be guaranteed work experience and interviews at the end
of their studies.
Katy Hill, former pupil and parent of Westholme came to award the
Artisan Interiors Scholarship to Jodie Clegg, who had excelled in her
Art GCSE examination. Jodie was
delighted with the £500 award
to enhance her studies. Mrs Hill,
a director of Artisan Interiors,
said that it was extremely
rewarding to help a talented girl
through her learning, and she
looked forward to seeing Jodie’s
future work.

C
ool Caligraphy
Congratulations to the following
Year 7 pupils on their success in the Handwriting Competition.
7W – Iniyah Sulaman
7S – May Daley
7L – Layla Ahmed
7M – Daisy Hancox
Overall
Handwriting Winner –
Daisy Hancox of 7M
EPr STUdY daY
Westholme’s former Head of EPR,
Mrs Pollitt and her beautiful guide dog
Kray visited school recently to the great
excitement of the girls!
The Year 11 EPR students spent a day coming face to face
with issues in our society such as homelessness and asylum
seekers.
During the morning the students visited Bramwell House,
the local Blackburn Salvation Army hostel where they
learned about the Salvation Army’s history and how they
help the homeless and vulnerable. After a tour of the hostel
the girls travelled to St Silas’ Church where they met Tanya,
an asylum seeker from Congo who told her moving story.
The afternoon was spent discussing what makes us British
and global citizens. All agreed that it was an excellent, eyeopening
day.
BIOLOGY CHALLENGE
The Biology Challenge is a national competition and is the junior version
of the British Biology Olympiad for Sixth Form students.
Eighteen Westholme pupils have been awarded certificates for their
achievement. This is a far higher number of awards than any of the
other local schools and compared favourably with some of the very best
schools in the country!
Bronze AwArd Silver AwArd Gold AwArd
Emily Cheetham
Alice Hicks
Charlotte Jackson
Ruth Scott
Emily Thornhill
Abbie Turner
Emily Birkett
Rebecca Flynn
Olivia Grady
Lydia Mackean
Jessica Newman
Elisabeth Poulson
Eleanor Whittaker
Heather Wilkinson
Jessica Charlson
Emily Richardson
Charlotte Stockwell
Sophie Ward
SALTERS’ FESTIVAL OF CHEMISTRY
A team of four Year 8 pupils, accompanied by Miss Hughes, went to Manchester
University to take part in the Salters’ Festival of Chemistry. The first thing
on the agenda was a challenge to solve a murder! Florrie Slater and Sarina
Ahmed Issap worked on using chromatography to solve part of the crime and
Paasha Ahmed and Saara Mulla experimented on different liquid solutions
and substances to make observations and record their findings.
After the murder case closed, the girls then faced their next challenge: to boil
an egg for exactly one minute – using only chemicals. The girls had to cause a
chemical reaction which lasted as close to one minute as possible – easy you
may think, but actually it was very challenging!
Later in the day there was a ‘Flash Bang’ show in the theatre, with fun
experiments which shocked and entertained. The Year 8 team agreed that
they’ll never look at chemistry in the same way again!
WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
11

BASKING IN
BLENCATHRA
The Lower Sixth Geographers basked in
sunshine during their residential trip to the
Lake District. The girls worked industriously
to gather data on the channel characteristics of
the Keskadale Beck in water that was generally
below the height of their wellingtons! Despite
the input of several very lively canine friends, they
carried out their fieldwork techniques and earned
the praise of their teachers.
Earlier the girls surveyed the impact of the
November 2009 flooding on Keswick where
the clean-up operation is still taking place. They
evaluated the flood defences and considered the cost
of the Environment Agency’s responses in Keswick.
12 WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
NATIONAL
POETRY
‘HOME’
We were treated to some wonderful entertainment this year on
National Poetry Day. Entries ranged from beautifully choreographed
dance routines, excellent singing, imaginative displays and, most
importantly, a variety of creative poetry.
Judging was particularly difficult;
the results and comments are as follows:
1st place - 8W – a fantastic all-round performance.
Very impressive. A delight to watch.
2nd place - 11T – we found your piece very moving.
The dramatic portrayal was superb.
3rd place - 7L – what a wonderful performance,
even including straw bales!
4th place (joint) -
11L – we liked the varied collection of poetry
place (and the fishbowl!)
11M – you made us laugh. We thought it was a great team effort
and liked the attention to detail with the Austen book and the
twist in the poem.
11S – Sophie – we really enjoyed your song, thank you. We liked
the way you all supported each other in the singing and actions.
CRANMER AWARDS
On Saturday 30th October, Year 10
pupils Harriet Dagnall, Alice Smith
and Hattie Campbell took part in
the Cranmer Awards public speaking
competition held at Arnold School.
The girls had to read aloud a passage
of 17th century English with fluency,
expression and communication
of meaning – in front of a panel of
judges. All three girls performed
with confidence and conviction and
took first, second and third place
respectively.
Harriet will now compete in the national final of the
competition which is held in London in March next year.
SIX WORD
ESSAYS
October, 2010
DAY
1st Place - Lucy Janus of 10M
Baby cries. Mother sighs.
Father sleeps.
2nd Place - Shannon Devlin of 10M
Homework. What homework?
Oh, that homework!
3rd Place - Sarah Sellick of 8M
My pet turkey. My Sunday lunch.

YORKSHIRE DALES
(Lancashire 1 : Yorkshire 0)
The Year 10 Geographers thoroughly enjoyed their residential trip
to Malham. They efficiently gathered data on tourism for their
controlled assessment tasks and soon developed a tenacious
approach in order to interview passing visitors. The girls learnt how
to use quadrats to survey the footpath erosion in the spectacular
scenery of the Malham area.
The guided tours of the limestone caves and Swinden Quarry proved
to be highly informative but the climax of the trip had to be bringing
the chair stacking title back to Lancashire. Westholme beat Bradford
Girls’ Grammar Schools’ previous record of 10.1 seconds by managing
to stack 20 chairs in just 7.0 seconds! This left the Yorkshire quarry
men a little subdued but meant that our journey home was jubilant!
Acker Bilk
comes to Westholme!
Legendary clarinettist, Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band played to a
packed Westholme Theatre in November. Acker Bilk is the latest name to
be added to the list of Jazz Greats to have graced the Westholme stage
- names such as George Melly, Kenny Ball, Syd Lawrence Band and the
Glenn Miller Band. The audience was treated to old favourites, such
as Stranger On The Shore, as well as jokes and anecdotes from Acker.
Another very enjoyable evening at the Theatre!
The concert got underway with the Westholme Junior
and Senior Choirs’ wonderful Bee Gees Bonanza!
Acker Bilk with fellow
clarinettist, Tori Redmond
WESTHOLME SENIOR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
13

MEDIA CITY UK ‘wHErE PEoPLE
CaN LIVE, work aNd CrEaTE’
The Year 13 geographers ventured into Salford Quays
for their latest outing to study the success of the urban
regeneration.
Of particular interest was the Media City UK development,
the creation of the UK’s first purpose-built media city and
future home of the BBC. The girls discussed the impact this
development will have on the area before heading off on the
Metrolink into Manchester city centre.
After sampling the sustainable transport network, these
intrepid geographers walked from Piccadilly through
the Whitworth corridor to Castlefields and saw how the
warehouses and wharfs have been transformed into luxury
apartments, offices and bars. The trip culminated with a visit
to Cloud 23, the bar in the Beetham Tower (Hilton Hotel), to
enjoy the spectacular views of the regeneration below.
Parade in Concert!
Westholme pupils were thrilled to welcome the girl band Parade to
their assembly this morning. The group performed three songs, one of
which is their single which is being released early in the new year.
The whole of the Senior School sang along and danced when Parade
sang their cover version of Forget You.
A group of lucky Year 7
girls got to meet the band
backstage after their
performance and the girls
signed photos and gave
out goodie bags. What a
fantastic way to begin your
Thursday at Westholme!
14 WESTHOLME SCHOOL
Kathryn Stott and
Rachael Clegg Concert
Westholme Theatre 18th November 2010
We were thrilled to welcome back the excellent Kathryn Stott to our
theatre, as she squeezed us into her hectic tour schedule in between
Tokyo and New York! Blackburn does seem to have an enduring allure
for Kathryn, and it is always a cultural highlight for us. This time, she
came with the wonderful Rachael Clegg, a hugely talented oboe virtuoso
who delighted the audience with her music and her warm anecdotes.
Rachael had taught at Westholme earlier on in her career and she
seemed genuinely pleased to be back. The chemistry between Kathryn
and Rachael was evident, despite the fact it was 25 years since they had
graced a stage together! The evening was thoroughly enjoyable and it
reminded us all how uplifting beautifully played music can be.
CONTOUR MODEL COMPETITION
Year 7 pupils have been busy making contour models for this highly competitive
annual event. The standard was exceptionally high and there were some
wonderfully creative entries such as Chicken Dinner Island, High Heel Hide-out and
X-Factor Island.
Congratulations to 3rd place
winner, Elspeth Russell-Shuker
for her Skull Island and to
Stephanie Hannah for her
Unicorn Island. But the winner
of the 2010 Year 7 Geography
Contour Model competition is
Emily Cunane with West Island
– a model in the shape of a
Westie dog.
Congratulations to the Junior Maths Challange Certificate Winners
CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY FOR TILLY!
When Old Westholmian Diana Vickers
returned to Blackburn to switch on the
town’s Christmas lights last Thursday,
it was an occasion not to be missed for
lots of Westholme pupils.
Lucky Tilly Sturgess of Year 5 was
determined to speak to Diana, and when
she attracted her attention they chatted
about Westholme life and in particular
Mrs Stott (Tilly’s class teacher). Diana
told Tilly that she was very lucky to go
to such a fabulous school!

TATE BRITAIN & TATE MODERN
On Saturday 20th November the A level Art and General
Studies students set off for a trip to London. First stop
was Tate Britain to see this year’s nominees for the
controversial Turner Prize. Next on the itinerary was
a boat trip on the Thames to Tate Modern to view the
Maker of Myth Exhibition featuring the most important
collection of Paul Gauguin’s work in fifty years. And
a Sixth Form trip to London would not be complete
without a spot of Christmas shopping in Covent Garden!
NEw arrIVaLS
We have been delighted to welcome seven new students into
the Lower Sixth this term. They have all been busy making new
friends and enjoying their A level studies. They are also making
the most of the extra-curricular activities available to them.
Here they are pictured during their induction chatting to Upper
Sixth students who joined Westholme in September 2009.
Saleha Hussain, Numrah Shah, Rida Hashmi, Habiba Hussain,
Uzma Khan, Antonia Evans, Bronwen Edge, Afshah Ahmed.
SENIOR UK MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE
The Senior Challenge is aimed at Sixth Form students
studying Mathematics at Advanced Level. It is a very
prestigious and challenging competition with over 65,000
students from across the UK sitting it. Approximately 6%
of entrants receive gold certificates, 13% silver and 21%
bronze. This year the following Westholme students
received awards:
Gold and Best In School: Victoria Green
Gold: Lesley Foster
Silver: Rebecca Stanford,
Rosie Glassbrook, Rebecca Moore
Bronze: Rosanna McCann, Bronwen Edge,
Rachel Natrass
ISCO FINANCE
COMPETITION
Sixth Form Officers
STYLE + SUBSTANCE = SUCCESS!
Six Westholme students participated in the BPW
Public Speaking Competition at the Foxfields Hotel
on Monday 15th November. Westholme entered
two teams: Maaham Ahmed, Romana Alli and Olivia
Hunter were on one team and Emma Watts, Emma
Sharples and Alice Hutchinson were on the other team.
Both teams competed against Clitheroe Royal Grammar
School, two teams from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar
School, Stonyhurst College and St Augustine’s RC High
School. In many cases the girls, from the Lower Sixth,
were competing against Upper Sixth students.
Westholme managed to defeat the other teams and
came first and second in the competition. Romana
Alli was awarded the prize for the Best Chairperson,
Maaham Ahmed was awarded the prize for Best Speaker
and Alice Hutchinson won the prize for Best Expresser
of Thanks.
nuffield bursary scheme
Sixth Formers, Deborah Milligan and Rebecca Stanford
participated in the Nuffield Bursary Scheme, which allows
students to carry out scientific research with mentors
from universities or industry for at least four weeks.
The students can then write up their projects to
obtain awards from the British Science Association.
Deborah and Rebecca received Gold CREST
Awards at a presentation ceremony in
Manchester. Gold is the highest level of
CREST award and involves over 100 hours
of project work. Deborah’s project looked
at The Possible Correlation between Hip
Fractures and Osteomalacia and Rebecca
looked into the Molecular Cloning of Sirtuin
Genes by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).
Congratulations to both girls.
A-level Business Studies students took part in the regional heat
of the ACCA Finance Competition on Thursday 23rd September.
Westholme entered two teams alongside representatives from
Blackburn College and Withington High School.
WESTHOLME SCHOOL
15

Twelfth Night
16 WESTHOLME SCHOOL
by William Shakespeare
‘If music be the food
of love, play on…’
At the beginning of December, the Christmas spirit filled
the Westholme Theatre as Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
came to life on the stage. Accompanied by a live jazz
band and a troupe of dancers, the Shakespearean text was
lifted into a modern context in a mood of great joy and
revelry. We followed Viola (played movingly by Fiona
Porritt and Jennie Hall) as she experienced shipwreck,
loss, transformation and finally love. It was a truly magical
experience, and while the whole cast united in a rousing
rendition of ‘Fairytale of New York’, the snow fell outside…

LEGALLY BLONDE
At 6am on Saturday 27th November, with rumors of impending
heavy snow, ninety five intrepid Westholme students and staff set off
to see ‘Legally Blonde’ in London.
A great time was had by all, both in Covent Garden and at the
performance. The Jack Wills shop was stripped of stock and the
threatened snow never materialised. All in all a fantastic day!
Alice in
Westholmeland!
What a wonderful Night at the Movies it was!
Westholme was a place of white rabbits, Alices
and adventure! Mr Bissett and Dr Watson
transformed themselves into Alice in Wonderlands
while Dr Riley, Mrs Hornby and
Miss Worthington were the Mad Hatters!
The Queens of Hearts were there in all their
glory (namely Mrs Allen, Mrs Blackburn,
Mrs Law, Mrs Martin and Miss Collins).
Well done to the Year 10 JAC Team who created
the most imaginative and amazing stalls and games.
The interval was one of madness and great fun!
But there was more to come . . .
Lucy Turnock and Mr Beard created an
unforgettable entertainment with Dr Watson
(Alice) singing superbly and we were entertained
by an amusing sketch written by Mr Beard.
Thank you to everyone involved in this year’s
Night at the Movies: Year 7 and their fabulous
costumes, the JAC Team for their hard work and
incredible imagination, and to all staff for helping
and joining in the fun!
It was truly a Westholme Wonderland.
WESTHOLME SCHOOL
17

lvery floral
ARTHUR ROUSE
LECTURE:
Sarah Outen – taking us
out of our comfort zones!
It was impossible not
to feel the passion as
first and only female
solo rower of the Indian
Ocean graced our
Westholme stage.
At a mere 23 years old,
the Oxford graduate
abandoned mainstream
life for an amazing challenge across the waves,
all alone, from Australia to Mauritius. Some 124
totally wet but uplifting days with only pilot
fish and wildlife for company had certainly
taught Sarah some life lessons which she was
happy to share. She told of days where she
faced storms, metaphorical and real, but still
found something positive (even if it was that
her 500 bar chocolate supply had not got wet.)
The audience was completely enthralled by her
vision, self belief and pure courage. We lived
her treacherous journey vicariously and every
part of the story came to life. Sarah swooped
through our theatre in bare feet to bring to life
the feeling of proximity to an albatross with a 3ft
wing span – crazy, but yes, it really did happen.
For Dawn French to say you are bonkers, you
probably are. And so it was with Sarah.
The Arthur Rouse Lecture Series is designed
to bring motivational, intriguing and barraising
people to Westholme. We want to give
our community something to muse on. Most
certainly the lovely Sarah Outen achieved that,
and Tanya Byron’s footsteps were no easy ones
to fit into. If you missed these lectures, you really
did miss out. And to all those who attended,
thank you for your probing and insightful
questions which Sarah rose beautifully to. We
are already planning to book her for phase two
of the story when she returns from her round
the world trip by boat and cycle in September
2013! Another very special Westholme evening.
18 WESTHOLME DEVELOPMENT
From westholme
to westminster!
Thanks to supportive sponsor, local MP
Nigel Evans, our Alumni were able to
enjoy a superb evening last week in the
illustrious House of Commons. We had
hardly dared hope it would match our
successful experience previously at the
House of Lords but it certainly did!
Knowledgeable tour guides showed us
around the highlights and several of
our former pupils even got to pretend
to be the PM for a moment! Historical
facts abounded and we all felt honoured
to be there. Nigel Evans and his party
came to join us for welcome drinks in
the Pugin Room and entertained us with
stories before we went into the Strangers’
Dining Room for a delicious meal. Nigel
continued to amuse and fascinate us
throughout the evening and he took
questions willingly on a wide variety of
subjects.
The Papal visit had only occurred the
week before and we all felt as though
a little of the holiness of the place was
still with us. The evening was fittingly
concluded with the dry words of our
superb Mrs Gibson who had joined the
dinner with daughter Alex and daughterin-law
Victoria. Gone but not forgotten,
we hope to see her at the next reunion
– fingers crossed it will be somewhere
equally spectacular. Watch this space!
Music Centre Extension gathers pace!
The Appeal to raise funds to extend our Music Centre was launched in September. A number
of guests came along to the confines of the current music centre to experience for themselves
the shortage of space! We held two informal information evenings where entertainment was
provided by the very talented Jennie Marsden, former pupil and graduate of the Royal College
of Music.
Many supporters were motivated by the need for more space to donate immediately to the
fund, which requires £250,000 to enable us to double our space. So far, the appeal total stands
at £128,000, so we are just about half way there. Progress, but some way to go! If you do feel
that some help is within your reach, we would always be pleased to hear from you in the
Development Office – Vivienne Davenport and Yvonne Herrick are available for confidential
conversation at any time. No amount is too big or too small and please remember that the
School is a charity and so we can claim Gift Aid to swell the value of your gift by 28%. We would
be thrilled if you could help to get this essential project off the ground. Mr Millest and the
Music Department NEED YOU!
at Westholme in January. See the ad on the
back page of the Newsletter for
more details. Or visit
www.westholmeschool.com.
STOP PRESS Henry Holland Fashion Show

eco art
After much deliberation, the winner
of the Eco Bag Art competition
was announced. Congratulations
to Poppy Ward of Year 1. Poppy
is pictured with judges Mrs Kyra
Milnes from the Harris Museum and
Mr Julian Pickford from the printing
company producing the ego bags.
Special thanks also to Mrs Rachel
Pearson who helped to judge the
competition.
Congratulations to the two runnersup:
Ryan Thomas (3M) and Charlie
Hindle (5M).
The Westholme Association wishes
to thank all the pupils for their
fabulous entries. The winning bag
design will be on sale at the Spring
Fair on Saturday 2nd April 2011.
Winter Ball -
A Touch of Purple!
The Westholme Association held their annual
Winter Ball 'A Touch of Purple' at Ewood Park
on Saturday 13th November, 2010. The guests
enjoyed a champagne reception sponsored by
Northcote Offsite, followed by a sumptuous
three course dinner.
The after dinner entertainment was provided by
DJ Damien Murphy and a wonderfully talented
Michael Bublé-esque vocalist, Alex Stuart who
entertained in fine style! There were requests
to the WA Committee that he be booked again
for next year!
With a Limited Christmas Bauble raffle and
Christmas Cracker prizes, altogether the
Ball raised in excess of £5,500 which will go
towards providing that extra something for the
pupils of Westholme.
A wonderful evening was enjoyed by all!
Forthcoming Events
Casino Evening at Stanley House
Friday 11th February 2011
Second Hand Uniform Sale
Saturday 19th March 2011
Annual Spring Fair
Saturday 2nd April 2011
Junior Disco at Wilmar Lodge
Friday 20th May 2011
WESTHOLME ASSOCIATION
19

20
SENSaTIoNaL SwIMMErS
aCCEPTEd oNTo LEVEL
3 ENGLaNd TaLENT
dEVELoPMENT SQUad!
Lucy Davis – Year 9
The ASA Nationals Age Group
Championships took place over the
summer holidays at Ponds Forge,
Sheffield. Lucy achieved ten
national qualifying times –
and seven medals in all!
200 Individual Medley – Gold Medal
Lucy achieved a new championship
record time of 2.21.55
400 Individual Medley – Gold Medal
4 x 100m Freestyle Relay (member of the team) – Gold Medal
200m Back Crawl – Silver Medal
400m Freestyle – Bronze Medal
800m Freestyle – Bronze Medal
Lucy was runner-up in the overall championship and was
awarded the silver plate which means she is 2nd in the whole
country! By achieving this, she was awarded a Kellogg’s Future
Champions training fee award.
Megan Davis – Year 10
Megan was in a double age bracket
at the ASA Nationals which meant
she had to compete against
swimmers who were a year older
than her. She still managed to
come away with two medals!
Megan also gained nine national
qualifying times:
400 Individual Medley – Bronze Medal
200m Freestyle – Bronze Medal
Megan also participated in the UK School Games in September
as part of the England Team. She competed against other
teams from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland where she
won the 400m Freestyle – Gold Medal
TEaM ENGLaNd
Megan Davis won Gold medal in the 400 Freestyle for Team
England at the UK School Games.
Megan is pictured leading out the Relay Team where she
received Bronze medals for the 4x100 and 4x200 Relay events.
Congratulations, Megan on your awesome aquatic
achievements!
4 x 100m Freestyle Relay (member of the team) – Bronze Medal
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (member of the team) – Bronze Medal
Lucy and Megan have been accepted onto the Level
3 England Talent Development Squad – an incredible
achievement!
WESTHOLME SPORT
THE U16 NaTIoNaL NETBaLL CoMPETITIoN
In November the U16 County round of the National Schools’ Netball competition was held at Leyland
Motors Sports Club. The Westholme team played very well and won all their group matches to qualify
for the finals, but were beaten by a very tall Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar School team by 10 goals
to 13. However, by being finalists in this tournament, Westholme has qualified for the NW Regional
Finals which will be held in Manchester in January.
Well done to the team: Holly Adamson (Captain), Ellie Walker-Smith, Sadie Pilkington, Sarah
Maudsley, Beth Walker-Smith, Danielle Redhead, Alice Holland, Jessica Rooney and Laura Williams.
U16 Lancashire Netball Academy
Holly Adamson, Alice Holland, Danielle Redhead,
Beth Walker-Smith, Ellie Walker-Smith.
U19 Netball Academy - Jodie Clegg
U16 Lancashire Hockey Academy - Jess Newman, Beth Walker-Smith
GoLFING GrEaTS!
Westholme School’s Sixth Form student, Elizabeth Stebbings, qualified
for the Daily Telegraph Junior Championships in Abu Dhabi which
took place between 25th November and 1st December, 2010.
Elizabeth, 16, qualified for the Championships with a 4 under par
round score at Clitheroe Golf Club at the end of August. She joined
eight other girls and eleven boys who made the trip of a lifetime
to the five star luxury resort in Abu Dhabi and played at the world
famous Abu Dhabi golf course.
Elizabeth plays golf at both Wilpshire and Clitheroe Golf Clubs and
plays off a handicap of 1. The format for the championships
was three rounds of golf and will be shown on Sky
Sports. The trip also included a friendly match against
the juniors of UAE at Saadiyat Island Golf Club, a
desert jeep safari and a trip to the grand mosque.
Elizabeth is pictured ready for the trip with her
sponsored golf equipment from Callaway Golf.
Year 8 pupil, Sophie Lamb has received a
Golfing England call-up. Sophie, who plays at
Clitheroe Golf club initially earned her county
call-up following numerous eye-catching
performances. Her handicap dropped from
23 at the beginning of the year to 12, and
she won the best overall net with 143 at the
Northern Girls’ Championships at Whitley
Bay in August. Prior to that she won the
Under-12s section of the Junior British Golf
Tour at Surrey's Heythrop Park after scoring
a birdie on an 18th hole play-off. Sophie
has also taken the crown at Clitheroe's
Junior Knockout competition, and took full
advantage of her reward by winning her
first match for the county in Lancashire's
victory over Cumbria.
Sophie’s first training session
for England was on Sunday,
November 21st, at Rudding Park
in Harrogate.

ENGLISH SCHooLS’ FELL
rUNNING CHaMPIoNSHIPS
Congratulations to Beckie Taylor who won the
English Schools’ Fell Running Championships
for the first time. This was a series of six races
with the best four to count. Beckie ran in a
Great Britain uphill trial race and finished 3rd.
This was in the U20 age group.
In the U18 age group, Beckie represented
England in the Irish Fell & Hill Junior
Championships where she helped the team
take the gold medal. Beckie took the
individual bronze medal.
Congratulations to all our fell runners who represented Westholme in the
annual English Schools’ Fell Running Championships at Sedbergh School,
Cumbria.
The Year 7 team finished in 4th position.
Team: Grace Taylor, Sally
Ralphson, Elspeth Russell-Shuker
and Maddie Laing
Competed against: Lancaster
Girls’ Grammar, Colne Valley
Specialist Arts College, Lincroft
School and Cockermouth School.
The Year 8/9 team were
Champions.
Team: Flora Robson, Maddie Ainsworth, Jade Connelly, Emma Dean, Lucy
Davis, Hannah Dobrashian and Lottie Latham-Taylor
Competed against: Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School, St Aidan’s CE High School,
Lincroft School, Canon Slade, Dallam, King Henry VIII and Cockermouth School.
The Year 10/11 team put up an excellent fight, finishing in 2nd place –
only one point behind the winners.
Team: Katie Buckley, Megan Davis, Sophie Taylor, Rhiannon Hammill,
Emily Thornhill and Millie Ainsworth
Competed against Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School, Sedbergh School and
Canon Slade.
Westholme’s Sixth Form team deserve a special mention as out of the five
runners, only Beckie Taylor is a fell/cross-country runner.
The other girls were persuaded that Westholme needed a team in this
age group to stand a chance of the winning the overall trophy. So, in true
Westholme style, Emma Watts, Kellsey Millar, Leena Najia and Harriet Jones put
their school first and put their bodies through torture as they ascended and
descended Winder Fell, reaching a height of 1,350 feet. Westholme finished
in second place.
Team: Beckie Taylor, Emma Watts, Kellsey Millar, Leena Najia and Harriet Jones.
Competed against: Sedbergh School and St Aidan’s CE High School.
Mrs Whittaker was very proud of each and every Westholme runner!
The Intermediate Team came first and is through to the Regional Finals.
ENGLISH SCHooLS’ CroSS
CoUNTrY CHaMPIoNSHIPS
Round 1 Results: On Wednesday 6th October
our Junior and Intermediate teams travelled
to Cheshire to compete against other
schools from the North West of England.
Every girl competed in true Westholme style
and did their absolute best to complete the
course in the shortest possible time!
The Results
Junior Team
(Years 7 & 8 pupils)
Maddie Ainsworth (9th)
Flora Robson (12th)
Grace Taylor (25th)
Jade Connelly (35th)
Maddie Laing (42nd)
Katie Beardmore (44th)
old Girls v Current Girls Hockey Match
News travels fast to Old Westholmians and with the knowledge that
Westholme now had its very own Astro turf pitch, it was too much for some
of the Old Girls to bear – they had to play on it! And so, Charlotte Holden
(left July 2008) set about raising an Old Girls’ team to play against the current
Westholme Senior Hockey team.
The event was fantastic with the standard of play being nothing less than
awesome! The match was an end to end extravaganza; and at one point the
current pupils’ team thought they may claw back a victory when it looked like
the Old Girls were starting to tire. No such luck for our Year 11s and Sixth Form
though and the match ended 4 - 2.
All the PE staff can say is that the Old Girls were obviously trained very well
from an early age! The event was such a success that we will be holding it
again next year and there is even talk of an Old Girls v Current Girls Netball
match being organised for this December. Watch this space!
Old Westholmians’ Team
The Junior Team came
in 4th position.
Intermediate Team
Katie Buckley (1st)
Lucy Davis (2nd)
Megan Davis (3rd)
Hannah Dobrashian (18th)
Emma Dean (26th)
Sophie Taylor (29th)
CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING
Congratulations to
Emma Holden represented the North
of England in Clay Pigeon Shooting.
After a two-day shoot the team finished 2nd.
Congratulations Emma who receives her Colours.
WESTHOLME SPORT
21

Holiday Fun at the new
22 W CLUB
We welcome all children from
pre-school up to Year 6
to come to Wilmar Lodge
for days of activities and fun.
Dates: January 4th – January 7th 2011 inclusive
Tuesday January 4th
Football, Popcorn and Movies
Age specific skills sessions will take place before a football match in
the afternoon. For the non-footballers there will be professional face
painting and balloon modelling! Everyone
will have the chance to design their own
popcorn cone and then make popcorn to
take to the Big Screen Showing of a latest
blockbuster in our very own theatre. The
red carpet may even be out!
Wednesday January 5th
Ice Skating, Pizza and Clay Modelling
We will be hitting Blackburn Ice Arena in age specific groups to have
some giggles! Pizza making back at Wilmar Lodge
promises to be great fun
and eating it might be even
more so! Clay modelling
can also be enjoyed during
the day.
Thursday January 6th
Let’s Get Sporty!
Jan Sutcliffe and her familiar gang will be looking
after your children and teaching them a host of new
skills including swimming, circuits, unihoc, dodgeball
and cricket.
Something for all ages and abilities.
Friday January 7th
Sports, Sports and
Even More Different Sports!
Today we will be turning our thoughts to rugby and tennis in addition
to swimming, of course. Action packed with games and fun from
start to finish!
For more information please email:
Wclub@westholmeschool.com
Super Skills - and Super Thrills!
There was a buzz of excitement in the air during October half term, as
Westholme’s new and improved holiday club was launched. Staff and
children alike were eager to see what the “W Club” had to offer, and they
clearly weren’t disappointed.
The first week began with “Super-skills” – an activity week for 4-11 year
olds. The children took part in games of bench ball, kwick cricket and
volleyball, all played in the Sports Hall. Thankfully, the weather was kind,
and they were also able to take full advantage of our new astro-turf and
enjoyed relay races and cracker jack.
The children swam in our pool each day, learning new skills such as
stroke, technique, safety and of course confidence building. Outdoor
pursuits such as cross country were also enjoyed by the members of the
club, and they even managed to collect some autumn leaves from the
grounds of Wilmar Lodge for their craft work.
Week 2 was equally as action packed, with a spooky Halloween theme
running through it. The children took part in a potions and spells day –
eat your heart out Harry Potter! You may have thought that we had quite
enough snow from earlier in the year, but this was not the case. Everyone
enjoyed a fun filled day out at the Chill Factor , playing on the slopes
and in the snow, but it was very cold! The week was rounded off with
a Halloween party – enabling staff and children to dress up in their best
witch, wizard & ghoul costumes. By all accounts it was a truly spooktastic
affair!

PRINCIPLES LETTER
Dear Reader,
Merry Christmas! As it is the season of giving and receiving gifts, it seems appropriate for me to reflect on the
numerous gifts our pupils possess. These are not the presents that are opened and discarded, but moreover the special
qualities and abilities that define each of us as an individual.
Every child has his or her own unique talent, and our real focus here at Westholme is to find that personal
gift and work hard to build it up. It is a two way process and the gifts which the pupils give in return to the staff team
are the gifts of satisfaction, pride and inspiration. Not exactly gold, frankincense and myrrh, but equally valuable! It
is (most of the time!) an incredibly rewarding job teaching our children as they are so very reciprocal. All around us
this term we have seen wonderful examples of the pupils achieving amazing things and the content of this newsletter
reflects this.
For me this term, ‘Twelfth Night’ was a particular highlight. It was a challenging text but one which the girls
took complete ownership of, making it suddenly alive and accessible for our audiences. I do believe this is a special
skill of Westholme pupils, that they take the difficult and somehow make it appear easy. Certainly that was the case
for our youngest children in Billinge House who sang, acted and danced their ways through a variety of tear-jerking
nativity performances and their hugely entertaining ‘Christmas Cracker’ in the Westholme Theatre. All of our festive
performances have been particularly good this year; the Junior Schools’ Carol Service at the Cathedral marked the real
start of Christmas as each child, a star in his or her own right, twinkled for an appreciative audience. The Senior Carol
Service followed suit and once again I marvelled at the purity of the singing voices, the clarity of the readings and of
course, the simple beauty of praising together in a holy place.
Everyone benefits from belonging to a community and this term I think we have had some wonderful
examples of pulling together to achieve great things. Children in Need, Harvest Festival at St Silas’s Church, the Rotary
toy collection and Human Trafficking in Cambodia have all benefited from the children thinking beyond themselves. A
great thank you to parents and children alike for their generous giving. In other teams we have won public speaking
awards, fell running championships and science prizes. Both in groups and as individuals we have achieved significant
successes and not always in the most obvious places. Who would have thought we would have had not one but two
professional standard golfers?
I would like to wish you all a peaceful Christmas. In the midst of rampant consumerism, the panic of having to
revise for exams or the family friction of being too close for too long, please remember that it is all about the birth of one
baby. A simple and unadorned event which brought immense joy and hope to the world. Reflect and savour the gifts
you have that will not be discarded and cannot be replaced. Enjoy every moment!
Yours sincerely,
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE:
Mrs. L. Croston, B.Sc. (Hons) Dunelm, P.G.C.E. Cantab., A.L.C.M.
Wilmar Lodge, Meins Road, Blackburn BB2 6QU. Tel: 01254 506070
Lillian Croston
Principal
Website: www.westholmeschool.com Email: principal@westholmeschool.com Fax: 01254 506080
Westholme School Ltd., a registered charity, limited by guarantee, is registered in England under the Company Reference Number 926692
PRINCIPAL’S LETTER
23

SCHOOL OFFICES - CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
The Westholme offices will close at lunchtime on 22nd December 2010
and will reopen at 9am on 4th January 2011
RECREATION CENTRE - SWIMMING POOL & SPORTS HALL
The Westholme swimming and sports facilities will be closed from
Wednesday 22nd December 2010 to Tuesday 4th January 2011
(inclusive). Extra swimming sessions will be held on 5th, 7th and 10th
January 2011 from 2pm to 4pm.
SPRING TERM
Start of the Spring Term - Tuesday 11th January 2011
Come and see our
onderful
School
Westholme Open Morning
Thursday 27 th January 9.30am - 12noon
01254 506070 - www.westhO l M esC h OOl.COM
Rawcliffe’s School Uniform Shop
The School Uniform Shop closes at 1pm on Saturday 18th December
and re-opens on Saturday 8th January 2011 (10am - 1pm).
Term time hours resume week commencing 10th January 2011.
Wednesdays 12.30pm – 4.30pm Saturdays 10am – 1pm
Uniform available on-line: www.schoolwear-centre.co.uk Westholme password: 1923
follow
us on
The Westholme website
www.westholmeschool.com
has an up-to-date calendarof events. Each school site also
has its own notice board where weekly activities are posted.
Hosted by internationally renowned
fashion designer, Henry Holland himself
fashion
show
by Henry Holland range from Debenhams
Modelled by Westholme’s own pupils
24th January 2011 Westholme Theatre 7.30pm
Tickets £15 / £10 Concessions available
from the Box Office on 01254 506073
www.westholmeschool.com
Editor: Vivien Shaw
Email: principal@westholmeschool.com
Web: www.westholmeschool.com
Telephone 01254 50 60 70
Fax: 01254 50 60 80
Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year